John and I have been plotting with my father since January to surprise my mom, and yesterday, it all paid off! I couldn't mention it here since Mom reads Epbot - something I tend to forget. Heh.
The surprise was for both my parents' 40th wedding anniversary - which was yesterday - and my mom's sixtieth birthday, which is coming up in a few weeks. My dad wanted to do something big to celebrate, so after kicking around a few ideas we - naturally - suggested an all-out, bells-and-whistles Disney vacation. My mom's just like me, meaning she's a big kid at heart, and she's mentioned many times how she's always wanted to stay at a resort and really have the whole big Disney experience. So that's what we planned, from the Magical Express bus picking them up at the airport right down to their dinner reservations at each of the parks each night.
To break the news, we shipped her a package. On top inside was a card that read, "You've been married for 40 years! What are you going to do now?!" Then under a layer of packing peanuts was all their travel documentation and these ears:
Hee!
I added the numbers so they'd look a little more anniversary-like, but really it'd be cute if folks assume my parents are on their honeymoon. :) (The ears also have my parents' names embroidered on the back.)
One of my most vivid childhood memories is of the morning my dad woke my brother and I up by banging on our bedroom doors and calling out that we were all going to Disney World. I don't remember a single other thing from that day, but I remember that moment - that perfect, exhilarating, joy-filled moment.
So, yeah. Getting that phone call last night from my parents pretty much made my whole week.
My dad recorded the big reveal, so I can't wait to see that - but in the mean time, he sent along these photos:
Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad. See you both real soon!
And to the rest of you: thanks for letting me share. I just had to tell SOMEBODY. :)
Awwwwwwwww!!!!! So cute!!!!! That is an awesome surprise, Jen, and I bet your mom and dad will really have a ton of fun at Disney! :)
ReplyDeleteLove Love Love!! That is one of the best surprise anniversary presents ever. I do love the 40s on the ears too. I hope they have the best vacation they've ever had.
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! Your parents are adorable - congratulations to them and may they have another 40 happy years together!
ReplyDeleteyou can just feel her excitement. :)
ReplyDeleteOh. My. God. That is freaking amazing. I hope to be doing something just as awesome for my 40th wedding anniversary. You know something besides drinking cheap wine and making fun of movies.
ReplyDeleteWell, she looks thrilled! Wishing them a wonderful trip. The hats are very cute!
ReplyDeleteAwww, that is fantastic! Best daughter (and son-in-law EVER)!
ReplyDeleteHappy 40th anniversary, Mr. & Mrs. Yates, and happy 60th birthday in a few weeks, Mrs. Yates! Here's to happiness, health, and true love! (And, jeez, I hope like hell I look that amazing when I'm 60.)
Also, thanks to both of you for being being awesome, supportive parents to your little geekling so that she could grow up to become a tireless and passionate advocate for all the other little geeklings. She's doing way more than her share to make the world a better place, and we appreciate her. Ya done good, Jen's parental units. Ya done real good! *applause...applause...standing ovation*
KW
D'oh! Meant to close parenthesis after "son-in-law," not after "EVER." (I'm hanging my head in shame.)
DeleteKW
We are trapped in some kind of Vulcan cybermindmeld, my friend; I was just cruising in here to say that as someone who is dreading turning 45 in a few weeks, Jen's Mom totally gives me hope, because she is rockin' the holy hell outta 60. WERK JENMOM!
DeleteAn unexpected sucky thing about having panic/anxiety attacks is that no one is willing to give me a surprise party. Which I would actually LOVE to happen sometime, despite my weirdness. They fear the Klingon rage/bellowing that accompanies my shock and uncertainty, the well-meaning bastards.
Cheers, thanks a lot, and all the best to your folks,
Storm
Stormy-Boo, I hope you see this.
DeleteDon't fear 45. It's just a number, and you're only as old as you feel. Cliché, I know, but still true.
I hope your Vulcan has a huge surprise party planned for you, but just in case he doesn't, please email me at pacific30s at yahoo, and let me know when your big day will be, and then forget that you did that, and I'll send you a surprise email on your birthday, and wooo-hooo, won't you be surprised?!
Personally, I'd love to see a surprised Klingon. That would certainly be good for some laughs. The indignity! Yeah, maybe I better cower in a corner behind some furniture first.
KW
I wonder if my friend who came to my Trek wedding has a pic of the look on my face when I turned around to greet my guests after the ceremony and discovered that his Big Surprise was being dressed as Barf the Mog from "Spaceballs". I FELL OUT.
DeleteI'm technically half-Klingon, so I'm not a humourless sod about birthdays like Worf is; in fact, as a Taurus, I make sure EVERYONE knows, "Hey! My birthday is May 3rd, you knobs! Where's my prezzies?!"
I've also decided to do as my idol, Patsy Stone, does; keep telling everyone I'm only 42, and give a Cockney head-butt to anyone tries to look behind my ears.
Cheers, darling. Cheers, sweetie.
Storm
How sweet! And what a great photo of the two of them, you can just see the joy emanating from your mom. I don't think she will need a plane ticket, she is already floating on clouds!
ReplyDeleteAwwwwwww! Awesome!
ReplyDelete...Awwwwwwwwwww-some? ^_^
Congratulations to your parents on 40 years! True love is grand. My parents are celebrating 37 this year.
@Queen Holly the Magnificent: For your 40th anniversary, you'll obviously have to drink EXPENSIVE wine. And make fun of movies.
I am always delighted with each and every post on your blog and this one is a perfect example why... fun, love, nerdiness, and such zeal for life! Thanks for sharing and congrats to your awesome parents :D
ReplyDeleteYour parents are adorable! Happy Anniversary, Happy Birthday, and here's hoping they have a wonderful, magical vacation. :)
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing! We went for our 8th...going back for our 40th is a REALLY long way away, but it sounds like a great idea!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Jen's Mom and Dad! :)
Awww!!! That is just so sweet and awesome!! Happy 40th anniversary to them!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy anniversary to two of the coolest parents EVER! :D
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, the Mother of Jen (tmoj)!
-Barbara Anne
Holy crap. She's 60?! I would have guessed the '40' on her head to be her age.
ReplyDeletePlease, $DEITY, bless me with skin like that.
LOVE! And many congratulations to your parents and Happy Birthday to your mom.
ReplyDeleteAwww! that's adorable!
ReplyDeleteThat just made my entire day. :)
Your parents are adorable. :) Thanks for letting us share in such a fun surprise! Happy anniversary to your parents, and happy birthday, Mom!
ReplyDeleteSo fun!!! Loving that last picture!! I hope they have a fantastic time :)
ReplyDeleteI love both Epbot and Cake Wrecks and rarely comment but I couldn't let this go by without saying a big THANK YOU for sharing. This just warms my romantic heart to no end. Seriously awesome.
ReplyDeleteUm...Your mom looks 40, not sixty! Happy Anniversary to them and we hope they have a wonderful trip!
ReplyDeleteAwww, this is adorable. Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI love this so much!!
ReplyDeleteI hope they have an awesome time!!
D'AAAW! That is super cute! We're planning Disneyworld next year for my 40th but as we're in Scotland a big surprise for our kid isn't really feasible. So we have very tentative plans for my parents to be sitting on a bench as we walk past in Main Street or something. Or even meeting them at the airport on the way out - the kid loves her Granny and Pop!!
ReplyDeleteThese hats are the most adorable things I've seen in AGES. Second only to the looks on your parents faces. I had to share this with my Mom, who is a big disney fan and who took my husband and I to Disney as a wedding present. We got big buttons that said "Just Married!" and everyone, cast members and tourists alike, congratulated us everywhere we went. It was an awesome experience.
ReplyDeleteMy fiance will be there in 4 weeks with those same hats! I love the idea of putting numbers on them for anniversaries!!! SUPER ADORABLE! I'm totally stealing that idea when we go for our anniversaries in the future!
ReplyDeleteYour parents BOTH look waaay too young to be married 40 years. Congrats to them! I hope they have a great time in Disney :)
ReplyDeleteCould your family BE any cooler? No. No, they could not.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY ANNIVERSARY, YOU CRAZY KIDS, YOU!!!
(Yes, I meant your parents ;-)
Your mom is 60?!?!? She looks 40! Your dad looks great too. I guess the Magic Kingdom really is magic. Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday!!
ReplyDeleteAWWWWWWW!!! They are so adorable!!! And a big congratulations on 40 years! Have fun, you two crazy kids!
ReplyDeleteWednesday was our 25th wedding anniversary and my dad's 80th birthday. Busy day! Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteLook at those big grins!!! I love it!!
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for them! I'm also defiantly not crying, nope not at all. :) All the happiest and best wishes for their trip.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I plan to do Disney for every 5th anniversary, next up is 10 and 5 was this past October. It's great to know that we're in good company.
TOTES ADORBS! ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic story!!
ReplyDeleteMy boss once picked up her kids from school and said that she was taking them to get flu shots.
Instead, the whole family got on a plane and went to Disney World.
Oh, how fun! And sweet! Congrats to your parents!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on 40 years Mr. and Mrs. Jen's Parents! And Jen, you KNOW you're going to have to show us that reveal video, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteUh excuse me this is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. :D
ReplyDeletewhat an excellent thing to do! Congratulations to your folks, and to you for pulling off such a great surprise!
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! Happy Anniversary to Jen's parents!
ReplyDeleteThat is so freakin' sweet! Thanks for sharing this. I got my laughs, d'awws, and smiles in all at once today. :)
ReplyDeleteI completely understand the wanting to share. I just threw my parent's a surprise 40th wedding anniversary party - and it actually managed to stay a secret. Formal invitations, the big scheme to get them to come to the restaurant...I even made a 'sunday sweets' worthy cake and made them cut it like they did at their wedding. The best part of the entire evening was the tears in my mom's eyes and the look of surprise on my dad's face when they walked and and figured it out. My folks have done so much for me...I'm glad I could give them a little something back. :)
ReplyDeleteAww, your parents are awesome!! Love it. The picture of both of them with their ears on is so adorable. Happy Anniversary, Mr. and Mrs. Yates, and Happy Birthday too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet story! Thanks for sharing, hope they have a blast.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sweet story, I'm a little misty over here. It made me look at my husband and hope for the same happiness through our lives. Congrats to your parents!
ReplyDeleteNikki T
Made me cry. Many happy returns!
ReplyDeleteThey (and you for being so sweet) are just too adorable for words :). I hope they have a wonderful time!
ReplyDeleteThis is so cute I can barely stand it. I hope your parents have a wonderful adventure. Add me to those who got teary.
ReplyDeleteThis just absolutely made my day. I hope they have a wonderful trip! Happy anniversary!!
ReplyDeleteYour parents are so cute, it literally brought tears to my eyes.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Mom & Dad, er, your parents! Happy anniversary and happy birthday! Such a handsome couple!
ReplyDeleteAndrea
AUGH, how did I miss this post last week? What an adorable idea for your mother and I LOVE the hats! May your parents enjoy celebrating both occasions in the Magic Kingdom!
ReplyDelete(It also makes me happy that your dad plots with you--I thought my father was the only one! (He's throwing a "concert" for my mom to celebrate their 30th in a few weeks.))